Sound Transit Board’s Real Problems

The video of  May 8th Sound Transit System Expansion Committee meeting typifies the Sound Transit Board's approach to the area’s commuting needs.. The previous post had detailed the “challenge” they faced with deciding how many Line 2 cars would be routed through DSTT to reduce congestion from Lynnwood without costing too much to serve Redmond. 

 

However,  Sound Transit’s “real problelm” is they continue to implement  their version of the ST3 system expansion rather than improving the area’s public transit.  The video detailed the Board’s latest efforts to use the 2016 Prop 1 approval that allowed them to spend $54B between 2017 and  2041, to spend $150B between 2017 annually and 2046. Their current plan ends with $29B  in “tax backed debt”, requiring ~$1B in “Debt service payments” remaining in 2047 when ST3 taxes end.  

 

The video began with a Dow Constantine presentation, recently selected  as the Sound Transit CEO most likely to continue the ST3 extensions. The first budget item was a decision to pay each of four outside consultants up to $100,000 for 12 months of capital program advice.   Sound Transit’s 2025 Adopted Budget and Financial Plan,  the board approved in March, had included paying $957.5M to fund 1572 positions in their staff, including 205 “executives”.  Thus, the May 8th contracts were just the  latest example of Sound Transit paying transit advisory groups and outside consultants on how best to implement the  ST3 extensions.

 

The rest of the meeting dealt with how all the ST3 transit projects were proceeding.  Charts from the March 2025 System Expansion Monthly Status Report depicted status with different colored symbols. A response to the board’s apparent need for an update on progress “less detailed” than the previous monthly “Agency Progress Reports”.

 

The options for the segments of the Federal Way to Tacoma were presented. Sound Transit chose to use the Puyallup tribe objections to routing extension along I-5 to "prefer" a route along Route 99 that generated multiple objections from those along the highway.

 

Again, the Sound Transit Board’s real problem is first, they still don’t recognize that 4-car light rail trains don’t have the capacity to accommodate the number of commuters needed to reduce peak hour multi lane freeway congestion. Rather than add bus routes and parking for increased capacity, Sound Transit plans to replace the routes, reducing transit capacity into Seattle.   With bus riders forced to transfer reducing access for existing commuters, and no GP lane congestion reduction.

 

The board’s second Real Problem, they don’t recognize providing commuters with access to light rail doesn’t assure they will use it. The 70,000 residents that lived within a mile of Starter Line stations resulted in only 1238 average inbound and outbound riders in March. 80,000 residents within a mile of the Lynnwood Link stations, 6643 riders.  Despite board expectations, it's unlikely the two stations added by Downtown Redmond Extension will add significant daily commuters. 

 

The May 8th video included plans for the 16.3-mile extension to Everett. It will double the operating cost for the round trip from Westlake but has few potential commuters. Yet the latest staffing assessment has 126.8 Full-time Monthly Equivalents doing the planning.  The “possible” result of the Sound Transit Board chair and member being Snohomish County Executive and Everett Mayor. 

 

Another part of the board's  “not-having-light-rail-ridership problem” is the assumption those having access to bus routes will choose to ride light rail or transfer to light rail trains for the commute into and out of Seattle.  Potential Ballard and West Seattle riders to Sodo already have Snohomish and King County  bus routes throughout the area from Everett and Burien. The routes have far more stops for accessing the buses into Seattle and more convenient stops in the city for egress and access on the  return than either of the two light rail train routes.

 

The Sound Transit’Board continues to advocate spending $20B and more than a decade disrupting the area to bore a second tunnel under Seattle and second bridge over Duwamish Waterway. Doing so despite the potential lack of riders  surely qualifies as a problem.

The bottom line is the video of the System Expansion Committee's May 8th meeting provides ample evidence the Sound Transit Board doesn't recognize the folly of implementing the ST3 extensions.  That's a real problem.